RLB among the firms hit by delays to the Somerset nuclear power plant

Hinkley

Firms working on the 拢18bn Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant have admitted their finances have taken a hit due to the project鈥檚 delays.

Consultant Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB) had a contract on Hinkley Point C as a subconsultant and its chairman Ann Bentley has told 好色先生TV the contract was cancelled when EDF paused work on the site as a final investment decision had still not been made.

She added that the contract termination put a dent in RLB鈥檚 profit. Bentley said: 鈥淧eople we had allocated for years, instead of going to Hinkley they literally turned up in our office. They just sat there for two months until we were able to reallocate them.

鈥淔ive people for two months, that鈥檚 ten months, almost a year鈥檚 salary that came straight off our profits.鈥

A director at a contractor working on the project said their company will only move workers back to Hinkley when a final investment decision is made.

He said: 鈥淲e still feel pretty confident it will go ahead, but no matter how much EDF shout at us to mobilise, we are not going to actually do it until we see that money in our bank account.鈥

It comes after the project director for Hinkley Point C, Christopher Bakken, recently announced he will leave EDF in April for a new role in the United States with energy giant Entergy.

Bakken leaves after four years with EDF, where he was responsible for design, licensing, procurement, construction and commissioning on Hinkley.